Things that piss me off

Normally, I've had great service from these folks, the occasional outages are a minor annoyance, but they can't be faulted when idiots ram the poles with their trucks and down lines. However...

A few weeks back, our new digital cable box stopped receiving channels above 20-something, so a quick call resulted in a box reset, and we were up and running in a few minutes. Fast forward to a few days ago, and our bill is now about $60 higher than it had been, and there's a mysterious charge for the prior month, apparently backdated to about the time our box was reset.

Two phone calls later, the truth comes out. It seems that when the box was reset, for some reason, our account got reset too, and we lost the promotional code that was on our account as of the end of December. So I ask for them to put the code back on and fix the bill, at which point I'm told that they can't override the system and put the code back.

But you already overrode the system, I point out, and do you're just fixing what was already overridden. My logic is lost on them, and a manager confirms that they can not now go back in to correct this. I then explain to them that in that case they will be getting their DVR boxes back, and I know exactly where to put them. The manager starts to get very defensive at this point, so I explain that I meant I was going to take them to their main office in town, what did he think I meant? Some mumbling later, and the call was done.

A short while later at the main office, DVR boxes, cables, and remotes in hand, the counter girl confirms that they can't put in the old promo code anymore, and unfortunately they have no current promos of comparable value, so I dump everything off with them.

I'm sure it's only a matter of time before a salesweasel calls to sign me up again, this time I'll make sure to get the offer in writing...

Just got back from a moderately entertaining cruise, sailing out of the Port of Galveston (Texas). Getting through the port and onto the boat wasn't all that bad, check in happened pretty quickly considering the crowd, and we were on board. Disembarking, though, was an entirely different horror story.

Boat returns at 8 something AM, and passengers were supposed to start disembarking shortly after 9 for those carrying their own bags, and around 9:30 for the rest of us having our bags offloaded for us. Well after 9:30, folks finally start getting let off the boat. Over an hour later, the rest of us finally start moving along.

Imagine my surprise when I find out that after this huge wait, I round the corner and enter this huge warehouse type building about the size of a football field, and see the longest line I've ever come across winding back and forth across the building. And this includes the stupid crazy lines at most theme parks.

About half way through when I steal a glance at my cell phone (which we're supposed to not be using), I realize that by this point I had originally planned to be back in Austin. Another hour later, we finally clear the Customs checkpoint (1 of 8) and somehow get out with the last group, when there was easily about 150 folks behind us in the main line. We manage to catch the last bus back to the parking lot, and it's now just after 1pm.

To put this in perspective, a couple of years ago we had cruised out of Port Canaveral (Florida) and after leaving the boat it took all of 15 minutes to collect our luggage and pass through customs, and get across the street to our vehicle.